Album Review: LICE – 'Wasteland: What Ails Our People Is Clear'
A satirical nightmare and a must-listen.
The debut album from the Bristol quartet is an ambitious concept that distances themselves from being just another ‘post-punk band’. Wasteland was written as a “piece of experimental short fiction”, and in doing so, LICE have created a William Burroughs nightmare where the vocals spit out short stories rather than sing melodic lyrics. Whilst you wouldn’t expect pretty pop vocals from LICE, Wasteland is a satirical narrative that has taken two years to complete that requires angst and sarcasm. It tells “The adventures of The Conveyor, Dr Cohen, and the RDC’s plot to make the human race destroy itself.” LICE were never lacking in the lyrical department with the likes of 2018’s ‘Stammering Bill’, but this is an interesting approach that stretches the boundaries of what the band and the “satirical song” can achieve. In their own words, “We elevate the satirical song lyric to the highest realms of drama… Tragedy – Science Fiction – Comedy – Absurdism – Magical Realism – Grotesques … Exploring the hidden iniquities of the heart and presenting its transformation”.
Not only have the band challenged themselves lyrically, but LICE have pushed the metaphorical boat out not just beyond the harbour, but into strange and stormy musical seas. Wasteland is very different to previous releases, such as the It All Worked Out Great, Vol. I & II EPs released back in 2018. It’s still weird and edgy, but there is a mixture of Fat White Family and Girl Band in the album’s intensity and LICE’s delivery. Just listen to the singles ‘Conveyor’, ‘Arbiter’ (a personal favourite) and ‘R.D.C’ and you’ll know what I mean. However, Wasteland is still undeniably a LICE product.
Wasteland is one of those albums where a band embarks on an ambitious project to shake off any previous musical pigeon-holing that may have set them back. It could have easily alienated previous fans and new potential fans wouldn’t be interested. Luckily, for fans both old and new, Wastelandhas truly paid off.
Words by Matthew Brocklehurst